Air conditioner



sept. 3, 1940. I A M, HlGHHoUsE 2,213,911

AIR CONDITIONER Sept. 3, 1940.. A. M. HIGHHoUsE A AIR CONDITIONER Filed Dec. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. :it9 194@ PATENT OFFECE CQNDITIDNER Albert M. Highhouse, Spokane, Wash., assignor of one-half tc Carter .L Carlsen, Spokane, Wash.

v application December s, 1937, serial No. 113,798

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an air conditioner and it is one object of the invention to provide a device of this character adaptedl to be associated with a hot air furnace serving a's a dis- 5 tributor and by means of which air maybe moistened and dust, lint and other impurities removed therefrom. It will thus be seen that the air when delivered to the furnace will be moistand free from impurities and Iin such condition delivered to rooms of a building through the pipes and registers of the hot air furnace.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character wherein water is fed to a pipe extending transversely of walls of an air tunnel, the pipe being provided with discharge nozzles through which fine sprays are discharged in such relation to the tunnel and each other that they form a mist through which the air is driven by. an electric fan and thus the air thoroughly moistened.

It is another object of the invention to provide an approved arrangement of baiiies or louvers which serve to catch and remove dust and lint from the air after the water treatment.

Another object of the invention is to so ccnstruct the baffles or louvers that drops of water striking them will be caught and delivered to troughs at their lower edges and thus permit the water to flow from the baies and into a water pan or sump formed in the lower `portion of the air tunnel.

It is another object of the invention to provide improved means for mounting the bailies or louvers and not only rmly support them in their proper position in the air tunnel but also permit frames carrying the bailies to be bodily withdrawn from the air tunnel when cleaning or repairs are necessary. v

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing the improved air conditioning apparatus in longitudinal section upon a vertical plane,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely through the air tunnel along the line 2--2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in` elevation of the water spraying means,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the spraying nozzles of the water-spraying device taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

The body of this air conditioner may be 55 formed of sheet metal or any other desired material and has a horizontally extending portion or tunnel 2 which is rectangular in cross section, as shown in Figure 2, and may be of any desired height and width. A vertically extending portion or tower 3 extends upwardly from the outer end of the tunnel 2 and at its top is closed by a cover or upper wall Pipes 5 extend from the side walls of the tower and are to extend to rooms of the house or other building in which the air conditioner' is installed so that air may be withdrawn from the rooms by a fan 6 and after being treated returned to the rooms through pipes leading from the hot air furnace l whichserves as a distributor for the air. While it has been stated that the distributor is a hot air furnace of a conventional construction, it is to be understood that' any distributor of a conventional or special construction may be used and that, if so desired, cooling means may be provided in order that the air may be cooled during hot weather before it is distributed to the rooms of the building. By ern- `ploying a hot air furnace as the distributor special equipment for distributing the air to the rooms of the building will not be required and the air may be delivered in a heated condition. An opening 8 is provided at the front of the body in order that access may behad to the interior thereof when cleaning or repairs are necessary and this opening is normally closed by a closure plate or` door 9 which is detachably held in closing relation to the opening in any desired manner.

The fan 6 may be of any size desired and has its shaft I0 rotatably mounted in the bearing H at the upper end of a bracket l2 which extends vertically and is provided at its bottom with a base I3 secured upon a bolter Hi. This bolster rests upon the bottom of the tunnel and extends the full width thereof, a sheath I5 being provided tov shield the bolster from water and define a pocket in which the bolster is fitted and in addition provide a wall I6 which together with a wall or flange il at the inner end of the tunnel to define a water pan or sump extending substantially the full length of the tunnel and adapted to receive water which is sprayed across the forward portion of-the tunnel during operation of the air conditioner. An outlet pipe i8 leads from a side wall of the tunnel and is located at such a height above the bottom of the tunnel between the end Walls I6 and I1 of the water pan that water will escape through this pipe instead of overflowing at ends of the water pan. The base L3 of the fan projects from the bolster and its sheath with its projecting end portion supported upon a block i9 belt 23 which is trained about the pulleys.

carries a larger pulley 22 so that, when the motor is in operation,`rotary motion may be transmitted from the motor shaft to the fan shaft at a reduced rate of speed through the medium of a This is clearly shown in Figurel, and referring to this figure, it will be seen that during operation of the air conditioner the fan will exert suction to draw air through the pipes 5 and downwardly through the tower 3 to the front end of the tunnel 2, and this air will be forced through the tunnel and into the distributor or hot air furnace 1, from which it will pass through the usual distributor pipes and out through registers into rooms of the building.

The air which is driven through the tunnel from its front end toward the distributor is to be moistened, and in order to do so, there has been provideda water pipe 2t leading froma suitable sourceof supply and having one end extending into the tunnel and attached to a T-coupling 25 at one corner of a rectangular pipe frame or conduit 26 which fits snugly within the tunnel againstwalls thereof and extends transversely of the tunnel. A suitable number of threaded necks 21 extend vfrom the pipe frame -lor rectangular conduit and each of these necks carries a nozzle 28 from the outer end of which projects a nipple 29 formed with a bore 3U and a small outlet opening or perforation 3| through which water may be discharged in a fine spray. A plug 32 may'fiowfrom the nozzle into the nipple.

which is tapered as shown clearly in Figure 5 has wedging fit in the bore of the nipple and serves to regulate'ythe quantity of water which By replacing the vplug with others of larger or smaller dimensions the quantity of water discharged from the vnipple can be regulated. While the necks and .'b'y the fan. Therefore, the air will be moistened and also any dust, lint or other foreign matter will be moistened and caused to readily adhere.

to baies or louvers which are interposed in the tunnelbetween the water frame and the distributor.

spaced from each other longitudinallyy of the tunnel and indicated in general by the numerals 33 and 34. These groups of battles are set-in place and removed through an opening 35 formed in the top of the tunnel, and when the cover 36 for this openingis set 'in place .it rests upon- Htracks 31 formed of angle metal and secured against side walls of the tunnel with their hori zontal anges projecting laterally from the side walls. The end portions of the tracks extend under portions of the top wall of the tunnel at .ends of the opening, and since. these tracksA project from one end of the opening quite a distance, as shown in Figure 1, the cover, when grasped by its handle 38 and set in place, may be slid longitudinally of the tunnel until the Cover passes The louvers or bafiies are arranged in groups entirely through the opening and rests` upon the tracks for its entire length, after which the cover may be slid longitudinally towards the forward end of the tunnel and its forward encl moved under the top wall and make contact with the abutment tongues 39 at the front ends of the tracks.

It will thus be seen that thel cover may be very easily applied or removed and that, when it is in place, the opening 35 will be completely closed. Each of the groups of baffles is provided with a frame Q0 formed of sheet metal and provided with side flanges di for engaging in tracks i2 formed by strips of angle metal t3. The upper ends of the tracks 32 register with slots formed in the horizontal flanges of the supporting strips 31, and when a frame is grasped by its upper cross bar it may be very easily inserted or removed. When the frame is in place with its side flanges engaged in the tracks between the strips 63 and itslower cross bar resting upon the bottom of the tunnel, it will be firmly braced and maintained in an upright position in the tunnel. The uppercross bars of the two frames serve not only'as hand-holds by means of which the frame may be grasped and inserted or removed but also constitute supporting strips extending transversely across the opening 35 and engaging the under face of the cover to support and brace the cover when the cover is in place. The bafile plates or louvers 46 constituting the group 33 extend at an incline opposite to that of the bame plates or louvers constituting the group 38, and while each group or set has been shown consisting of three plates or louvers, it is to be understood that any number desired may be provided in accordance with the dimensions of the airconditioner. The baffle plates or louvers 44- and 45 are formed with side flanges d6 and 41 through which rivets are passed to secure the frame to side bars of the frame 40, and lower portions of the sheets of metal from which the baille plates or louvers are formed are bent to form troughs or channels 48 and 49 serving to catch water which runs downwardly along the faces of the baflles., Cross strips 50 which may be referred to as defiector plates extend across the frames immediately below side edges of the upper cross strips thereof to blockthe upper portions of the frames and thus cause air to be properly directed through the frames as it moves along the tunnel towards the distributor 1.

When this air conditioner is in use, it is disposed laterally of the hot air furnace or equivalent distributor 1 and the open outer or rear end of the tunnel secured against the het air jacket of the furnace in any desired manner about an opening formed therein which may be a specially provided opening or the opening with which the Vfresh air pipe is usually connected. 'I'he pipes or conduits 5 are extended from the upper portion of the tower' 3 to rooms of the building where they terminate in registers so that air may be withdrawn from these rooms or if the device takes the place of the usual fresh air pipe of a hot air furnace a pipe 5 of the proper dimensions may be secured about a window opening orother source of outside air. The motor 20 is set in motion to operate the fan and as the fan rotates air will be drawn through the pipes 5 and the tower 3'and forced through the tunnel towards the ldistributor. A valve for controlling flow of water through the pipe 24 will be opened and water will beA discharged in sprays from the nipples of the vnozzles 38 to forni a curtain of spray through -which the air passes. The fine water spray will moisten the air and also force any dust or lint iioating in the air and as the air strikes the baille plates or louvers 46 of the group 43 and is deflected upwardly by these plates water will be removed from the air by striking the plates and any dust or lint will have v a tendency to stick to the plates and move downwardly along the same with the water to the troughs or gutters 48 through which the water flows until it reaches ends of these troughs and drips down into the water pan or sump formed at the bottom of. the tunnel. The air which is directed upwardly by the baile plates 44 passes from these baie plates to the group 34 and upon striking the baiile plates or louvers 45 it will be directed downwardly along the sloping faces of these baille plates and substantially all of the water and dust or lint which the baille plates 44 fail to remove will be removed by contact with the plates 45 and ow downwardly along the plates 45 to the trough or gutters 49 through which the water flows until it reaches the ends of these gutters and drips down into the water pan of the tunnel. The air which has been freed of dust and lint will retain sufcient moisture to be delivered to the ldistributor as moist air and this air will pass from the distributor through the usual air pipes or special air pipes to registers in rooms of the building.` It may be delivered either as warm air or if cooling means has been provided in the distributor the air may be delivered in a cooled condition to the rooms and thus serve to cool the rooms as Well as furnishing fresh clean air to the same.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an air conditioner, a horizontally extending tunnel open at its ends and adapted to have one end connected with a distributor, a, fan at the other end of the tunnel for forcing air through the tunnel, means in the tunnel adjacent the fan for creating a transversely extending curtain of water mist, said tunnel having an opening in its top between the means for creating the water mist curtain and the rst-mentioned end of the tunnel, strips carried by side walls of the tunnel and constituting vertical tracks having their upper ends exposed through the opening in the top of the tunneLand sets of baffles fitted into the tunnel through the opening in the top in spaced relation to each other longitudinally of the tunnel, each set of baffles Consisting of a frame insertable and removable through the opening in the top of the tunnel and having its side portions slidably engaging companion tracks, and baiile plates extending transverseiy of the frame and tunnel and having flanges secured against side portions of the frame, the bale plates being disposed at a vegtical incline with the baille plates of one set eX- tending at an angle opposite to the angle of the baile plates of the other set, and a cover for the opening in the top of the tunnel removably held in place. l

2. In an air conditioner, a horizontally extending tunnel open at its ends and having one end adapted to be connected with a distributor, an opening being formed in the top of the tunnel intermediate its length, strips extending along sides of the tunnel longitudinally thereof at `opposite sides of the opening and projecting under the top of the tunnel a tends of the opening, a cover ior said opening having side portions resting upon said strips and its end engaging under portions of the top of the tunnel at opposite ends of the opening, the cover being slidable along said strips to permit insertion and removal ofthe cover, a fan for forcing air through the tunnel towards theA distributor engaging end thereof, tracks extending vertically at sides of the tunnel in spaced relation to ends oi the opening, an open frame fitted into said tunnel through the opening in the ltop thereof and having side flanges engaging said tracks to slidably mount the frame for insertion and removal through the opening and Support the same in a vertical position, baille plates extending transversely across said frame one vabove another and disposed at a Vertical incline and having flanges atv their ends secured to side portions of the frame, the upper portion kof the frame being substantially ilush with said strips and constituting means extending transversely in the tunnely for bracing the cover between side walls of the tunnel.

ALBERT M. HIGHHOUSE. 

